Russia Says It Fears Ukraine Will Use 'Nuclear Bomb'—It Doesn't Have One

Russia has accused Ukraine of developing "a nuclear bomb," after last week saying Ukraine was producing "a dirty bomb" to detonate in a "false flag" attack in its own territory to blame on Moscow and escalate the war.

Ukraine, however, does not have a nuclear weapon, having given them up in 1994 under an agreement known as the Budapest Memorandum.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, thousands of nuclear arms were left on Ukrainian soil, leaving Kyiv at the time with the third-largest nuclear arsenal in the world. However, the Budapest Memorandum resulted in the U.S., the U.K. and Russia agreeing to guarantee Ukraine's security if it gave up its nuclear weapons.

A dirty bomb is a mixture of explosives and radioactive powder or pellets. A false flag attack is when an armed force carries out an attack on its own territory and blames it on the other side, as a pretext to escalate a conflict.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov accused Ukraine of developing a nuclear bomb

"Our information on Ukraine's potential provocations involving the use of a nuclear bomb is sufficiently reliable," Lavrov said. "Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu conveyed the detailed data, complete with the names of research institutes that may be involved in this, during his telephone conversations with his counterparts from the U.S., France, the U.K., and Turkey."

Shoigu made the calls over the weekend.

"Russian military agencies are planning other contacts as well. This issue will also be discussed at the U.N. Security Council today or tomorrow," Lavrov added.

"Our Western colleagues have groundlessly refuted this warning as a fabrication. They allege that Russia itself is planning to do something of this sort in order to accuse the Zelensky regime. But this talk is not serious. Some of our interlocutors suggested discussing the information that we have in our possession at the professional military level. We have supported this approach."

Ukrainian and Western officials have denounced these claims of a dirty bomb as false and pretext for further Russian escalation.

In response to Russia's accusations, Ukrainian officials invited out the U.N. nuclear watchdog to Ukraine to carry out checks at its power plants.

Commenting on Russia's nuclear bomb claims, Dionis Cenusa, risk analyst at the Eastern European Studies Centre, told Newsweek: "Russia is preparing the Western public for a false flag operation. If not, then Russia continues to test the West's willingness to induce the narrative that peace negotiations could be a way out from chaotic escalation."

"The risks of the Kherson hydroelectric power plant dam explosion, the limited military build-up in Belarus, attacks on critical energy-producing infrastructure of Ukraine along with the 'nuclear bomb' narrative need to be viewed together rather than separately. Russia is preparing for a kind of hybrid operation against Ukraine," he added.

Newsweek has contacted Ukraine's ministry of foreign affairs for comment on Russia's latest accusations.

Update 10/25/22, 10:00 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to include comment from risk analyst Dionis Cenusa and background information.